This paper discusses contradictory movements in centralization and de-centralization by examining two groups of policies: those that are meant to regulate fiscal relations between national and subnational governments and those that have redefined responsibilities relating to the provision of certain social services. It is maintained here that, from the point of view of inter-governmental relations, the Brazilian federation is a complex arrangement within which centralizing and de-centralizing tendencies co-exist, impelled by different forces, responding to different motivations and producing a variety of results.
centralization; de-centralization; democratization; fiscal relations; social services
